Sarmen

• Name — Sarmen • Native Name — Սարմեն • Birth Name — Armenak Sarkisyan • Born — 1 March 1901 • Birthplace — Pakhvants, Gevaş, Van Province, Ottoman Empire • Died — 18 February 1984 • Place of death — Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union • Occupation — Poet, writer • Language — Armenian

Sarmen was born in Pakhvants village, Western Armenia, in 1901. He lost his parents during the Armenian genocide and spent some time in orphanage. He lived in Gandzak, Tzaghkadzor, Leninakan and Yerevan. In 1924, Sarmen graduated from Leninakan’s children’s technical school and became a teacher. In 1932, Sarmen graduated from Yerevan State University.

Sarmen started publishing his poems in 1919. He became a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR in 1934 and a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1941. He wrote several collections of poems, such as “The Fields Smile” (1925), “Flight” (1935), “The Land of Songs” (1940), “Motherland” (1944), “Father’s House” (1955), “Lights of Sorrow” (1957), “Armenian Heart” (1960), and “My Dreams” (1969). He also wrote poems for children and translated works from Russian, Georgian, and other languages into Armenian. From 1924 he taught children to read and write, many of whom were orphans with a fate similar to his own His poetry was characterized by romanticism, patriotism, optimism and an appeal to the traditions of Armenian folk epic. He was the author of the text of the state anthem of the Armenian SSR.